Everton 1-1 Nottingham Forest
by James Nalton
at Goodison Park

THE respective managers of Everton and Nottingham Forest, Frank Lampard and Steve Cooper, both believed their teams deserved more than the draw which transpired on Saturday afternoon at Goodison Park.

Fear set in around Everton’s stadium when their team went a goal behind following a neat finish from lively Forest forward Brennan Johnson.

Everton were without a point for the new season and now found themselves a goal down at home against a newly promoted side.

The sun’s glare troubled the goalkeepers all afternoon. Dean Henderson even donned a baseball cap as he took his place in front of the Gwladys Street end in the second half.

His compatriot and opposite number, Jordan Pickford, had fewer excuses with the sun at his back in the second half as he parried Ryan Yates’s fizzing shot into the path of Johnson who remained composed, finishing a chance that was more difficult than it looked.

Everton were yet to score via one of their own players this season. Their only goal prior to this game was a Lucas Digne own goal in their 2-1 loss at Aston Villa, and there is a glaring hole in their attack following the sale of Richarlison and an injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

But shortly after his questionable parry, Pickford played a perfect long pass over the Forest defence into the path of Demarai Gray, who brought the ball down expertly and finished past Henderson.

“We should have won, shouldn’t we?” said Cooper when asked about Everton’s late equaliser. “I thought we were the better team.

“It’s a poor goal to concede and we shouldn’t be conceding it at this level, but let’s not lose sight of all the good things we did today.”

Lampard will have been relieved following the equaliser, but also thought his team deserved more.

“It’s a point, but we wanted to win the game, we deserved to win the game,” said the Everton boss.

“In terms of performances, we’ve been pretty good. Ideally, we’d have a few more points on the board from our performances but it’s not the case, and we just have to keep working on that.”

Everton are looking to solve their attacking problems by adding a striker before the transfer window closes and will aim to get other recent signings match-fit and up to scratch in the EFL Cup game against Fleetwood Town tomorrow.